


The Most Ancient Magic

by lyraonyx



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: BDSM, Blindfolds, Bondage, Christmas, Consensual Kink, Dom Harry, Dom/sub, Double Penetration, Exhibitionism, M/M, Mild Painplay, Mistletoe, Paganism, Porn with Feelings, Sub Severus Snape, Threesome - M/M/M, Voyeurism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-26
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:27:52
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28327539
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lyraonyx/pseuds/lyraonyx
Summary: Headmaster Severus is bored at the staff Christmas party when Harry shows up to bring some spice to his life. Ron doesn't mind the show.
Relationships: Harry Potter/Severus Snape/Ron Weasley
Comments: 23
Kudos: 128





	The Most Ancient Magic

**Author's Note:**

> This is in the process of being betaed, but I wanted to post it as a Christmas present, so here you go. Kink for Christmas! 
> 
> Whew. I didn't expect this triad to come out of this, but I'm surprisingly cool with it. Also, pay attention to the tags. This is NOT my usual soft BDSM. It's still not edgeplay or anything near it, but this is a strong dom/sub scene. So be prepared.
> 
> There's a possibility to read dubcon into this, but it isn't. Remember Sev is powerful and safewords are established at the start (and reestablished at several points in the scene). 
> 
> With that said, happy reading!

#  **The Most Ancient Magic**

* * *

Severus stood in a shadowed corner and watched the Hogwarts staff and a few approved adults from outside the castle mingle and tease each other with bunches of mistletoe. All white-ribboned—this wasn't a rite of fertility, after all—but still enough to bring forth blushes and titters and laughter. 

Idiots, the lot of them. 

He observed couples pair off from the shadows and scowled. All these gaudy decorations, simpering giggles, Christmas crackers, and sanitized 'carols'—didn't _any_ of these twits remember their heritage? They were witches and wizards, for Morgana's sake. Did none of them remember the old ways?

No. The sad truth was that only one or two of the fifty or so gathered there tonight would ever realise their full potential. Magic had once grown thick and wild among her people, but humans had never liked forces they couldn't control, and now, barely a fraction of that old power remained. 

Whether by ignorance, greed, or fear, wizards had struggled to make magic fit their ideals of what power should be rather than what it was. They had pruned the raw force of chaos until it fit the shape they wanted, snipped away the undesirable, shadowed bits, and weeded out every witch or wizard who didn't fit into their mould, and now they had a shiny, ordered courtyard to play in, but the vast forests had been lost. The Ministry, religion, and fanatics—from both sides of the modern moral spectrum—had trimmed them down until almost nothing of its roots remained, and stagnated both magical growth and power level as a result.

A familiar giggle sounded ahead, and Severus looked up to see Septima and Aurora floating a bunch of mistletoe his way. A _yellow-_ ribboned bunch, one that required a kiss on the mouth to satisfy. The women had teamed up to cast the levitation charm, too, knowing he was too powerful to tackle alone. 

"Pucker up, Severus!" Aurora made a kissy-face at him. 

Severus scowled and flicked his wrist, and the mistletoe scurried away to land over a bemused Argus. 

Aurora pouted. "Spoilsport!"

Septima stared, wide-eyed. "He—he didn't even use his wand!"

Aurora giggled and dragged her off. "Too powerful for us, dear. Let's go see how Argus gets out of it _this_ time."

"Probably kiss that damn cat."

The women snickered and trotted off. Severus shook his head and moved further into the shadows lest Potter get the same idea. Breaking _his_ charms would be _much_ more difficult. The other twits didn't stand a chance. 

If Severus told any of these blinded fools that wands _limited_ one's power rather than amplified it, they would laugh in his face.

Yet, it was true. Wands and spells were useful tools, yes, but few understood the way they should be used—to direct and focus the raw energy of one's magic, to limit the force to produce safe and predictable results rather to increase and fuel a mere spark of power, a forbidden reservoir which could not be accessed without a wand or a spell. 

Bollocks. Magic was a wild, untameable, living force, and wand use and spells made up only a tiny part of her secrets. And now, because of wizarding society's willful blindness, magic was dying out. Already, many people truly couldn't access their powers without a wand, and inbreeding, divisiveness, and warring among each other had only exacerbated the problem. In fifty years, these fools would have nothing left, not if they didn't learn to feel the heartbeat of the earth beneath their feet, to hear its breath in the wind. 

Until then, they would never know what they had stolen from themselves in their relentless quest to bend magic to their will. They would never feel the primal beauty and raw terror of a force greater than themselves, wild and untamed and unpredictable, because they settled for the safer, easier path to magical proficiency. They would never know there was another way to power, a better way, if they only let go of their fears and surrendered themselves to the force within, if they communed with it and let it work through them rather than trying to force it to act as they wished. 

The sad truth was, in twenty years of teaching and fifty years on this earth, Severus had only met three others who still had the strength and wisdom to look within themselves rather than their wands for their power: the warlord whom Severus had killed, the warlord whom Potter had killed, and Potter himself.

Potter—there was a mystery if there ever was one. His father had been the worst of pureblood snobs, as dependent on his wand as any other stagnant, elitist fool. His mother, however, had been one of the few young muggleborn witches with full control over her magic—living proof that new blood bred power. Lily had shocked even Severus sometimes with the depth of her control over that wild, raw power inside her, but her son….

Potter had done things, been places no wizard ever had, and he wasn't yet out of his twenties. 

Potter had the power and influence to reshape the wizarding world, yet he remained here, teaching defense to mindless twits, joining in meaningless festivities, chatting up the castle residents, and biding his time—for what, Severus didn't know.

And speak of the devil….

A lithe, youthful form stepped out of the shadows to materialise beside Severus. He tried to be sneaky, but Potter didn't realise the backlash of his power vibrated the core of every awakened wizard for miles. The boy had never been able to hide from Severus for all the man let him get away with it from time to time.

Magic spoke to Severus, too, after all, and on most of those times, she had told Severus to let him be, that the boy had a greater purpose he could not interfere with. Still, in Potter's youth, he had been too small to allow free rein. Those warning swipes at the invisibility cloak, the click of his boots against the stones ahead whenever Potter was out roaming the halls much too late—well, perhaps magic hadn't let him stop it, but neither had he allowed Harry to risk his health by his tendency to roam.

At least, he had _tried_ to keep him safe. Basilisks, dementors, and dark lords under a turban notwithstanding. By the boy's fourth year, Severus had just taken to waiting in the wings to learn what catastrophe Potter would unearth _this_ time. 

It hadn't spared him, for all Severus had tried. Magic was not always a kind mistress—Severus knew that better than anyone.

Still, sometimes, she led Potter to do interesting things, and Severus couldn't help but wonder what had drawn Hogwarts' resident social butterfly—more like an osprey pretending to flit about—to his side that evening. Surely the glitz and wonder of a Hogwarts Christmas party hadn't lost its shine already?

But then, Potter was one of the ancient ones, too. Maybe he was just better at hiding it. With power like that, maybe he _had_ to be.

"Happy Christmas, headmaster. Enjoying the festivities?"

Severus shot him a sardonic look. 

Potter smirked. "Yes, I thought as much."

"Why, then, did you waste my time to ask?"

"Well, one must feign politeness in these uncertain times." So Potter _did_ understand the risk of flashing all that power about. "Of course, such gestures only irritate you, so I confess I had rather a different motive this time."

Severus glared at him.

"Oh, yes, that was why I asked. Your patented glare of death is just dead sexy."

Merlin. Was the boy screwing with him? He couldn't be serious, but….

Severus had long since learned how to read the truth in auras when thoughts were not accessible—he had had no choice but to do so if he intended to survive as the Light's pet spy against an ancient one and a monster—and judging by the glint in Potter's eyes and the ripple of heat in his power, he had _meant it_. 

Severus rarely let emotion show on his face now that the need to pretend to be a barely-balanced arsehole had abated, but this experience was so wholly unfamiliar to him, he couldn't keep the heat from his cheeks or a nervous crease from his brow. He smoothed out his features and looked away, unsure of what Potter meant by such a strange statement.

Potter laughed softly. "Too late, sir. All your expressions are attractive to me these days."

Severus clutched at his sleeves. Had he been any less a man of control, he might have dropped his head to hide behind his hair at that, but damned if he would let such weakness show, particularly to an unknown element. 

"Potter. What the hell do you want?"

"Isn't it obvious? You."

The blunt words, too damn brave to be anything like a lie, shocked Severus into taking a step back and lifting his hands in front of his chest, a posture somewhere between nervousness and self-defence. Damn. He had shown his hand, but surely this gave him some excuse. Severus was no virgin—no true practitioner of the old ways could call themselves experienced until they knew how the intricacies of sex rituals altered power, whether as blessing or curse, and he had participated in Beltane rituals before, in isolated lands where the ancient ways still held sway over the people—but to be approached outside of ritual connotation, that was so unusual in his experience as to be unheard of. And by _Potter_? What was he on about?

"It—it is against Hogwarts' rules to solicit the headmaster, Potter." Damn that stagger, but he had rarely been so wrong-footed in his life.

"Will you give me detention then, sir?" The look in Potter's eyes was positively naughty. 

_Merlin_. Severus swallowed hard, a vain attempt to drive some moisture back to his suddenly dry throat. "I could sack you."

"You could. You haven't yet, though."

"And how do you know that I will not?"

Potter gave him a sultry smile, and Severus couldn't help the way his stomach swooped or the curl of his toes against his boots. 

"Well, I suppose I don't, sir, but the mere fact that you haven't cursed my bollocks off where I stand is encouraging."

It was true. Had any other nitwit come to him with such nonsense, he would have blasted them to Tibet, probably in pieces, and not large ones either. Potter though—he had always been the exception to Severus' every rule.

Severus swallowed again, but it did nothing to relieve the tightness in his throat nor the frantic beating of his heart. "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why _me_ , Potter? You have crowds of young, attractive women—and quite a few men, too—ready to lick the scum from your bootsoles at the slightest hint of interest. Why on earth would you choose me out of your myriad fawning admirers, when they must, surely, hold more attraction to your sensibilities than a jaded, miserable, wretch of a man who has never been blessed in the beauty of the flesh and is quite nearly twice your age?"

Potter's expression softened, a little. Gentle fingertips came up to trace the hard contours of Severus' jaw, his cheek, and the softness of the touch set something in Severus crying out for more, begging at the feet of this demigod for a scrap of love for his lonely, embittered soul. Try as he might, he was helpless to turn away.

"Didn't I just tell you I find every expression of yours attractive?"

"It—it cannot be true." But the flicker of honest emotion in Potter's aura suggested it was. "I—"

"Shh." 

Potter's other hand joined the first, and Severus felt like a caged bird between his gentle palms. A caged vulture, perhaps, but still a bird caught at the whim of a predator.

"It's all right. I meant every word."

Severus' resolve broke, and he leaned into the touch, unable to stay aloof with such softness offered so honestly to his war-weary soul. 

"You might not be conventionally attractive, not according to those idiots—" Potter nocked his head towards the crowd. "But you know I see you with more than dead human eyes, you know I sense more than what lies on the surface. Your soul, your magic is fucking gorgeous—like snow and a full moon against my own—but even if I couldn't see how beautiful you are inside, you really are attractive to me physically, too. Your looks are striking, uncommon, strong—and that's what I want."

Those words dinged off Severus' pain-jaded heart, cracked his walls, and sank deep into his soul. Never in fifty-five years had anyone said such honest, loving words—not to him—and he could not stop the rush of emotion welling in him, the years of ostracism washed away by a simple touch, the long, bitter existence on the fringes of society blasted away by a few sentences and an aura shining with honest concern and soft admiration. His eyelids stung, and he shut them fast to hide the storm building behind them.

"Hush." Potter swept him into his arms and tucked Severus' head under his chin. "Shh. It's all right. You know damn well I mean it."

"I-I know." Severus' voice came out soft and broken, so unlike his usual disaffected tones, but gods! Potter had just shattered him.

"Hey, it's okay, baby. It's real."

Severus whipped his head up to glare at that, though the tear tracks on his cheeks likely softened the blow. "I am not a _baby_."

"Of course not. You're an attractive, intelligent, damned powerful, mature man. I didn't mean it _literally_ , but you need someone to take care of you. You've had to carry terrible burdens alone your entire life, and I think, letting them go, trusting me to carry you just for a moment would be a relief. Am I wrong?"

Severus' walls cracked and trembled. His fingers curled in Potter's robe, his glare shattered and left his soul exposed, left the raw, desolate keening inside him utterly visible, at least to this one man. 

"N-no," he whispered, utterly unable to deny it in the face of such stark honesty.

Potter curled his hands around Severus' face. "You're safe in my arms, love. I _want_ to baby you a bit. To pamper you and hold you close and remind you that the world isn't _all_ hard edges and barbed wire, that even you— _especially_ you—deserve the chance to be cherished."

Tears raced, hot and fast, down Severus' face. "W-why? _How_? How did you know? Why do you care? _No one_ cares!"

Potter's lips brushed Severus' forehead, and the softness, the tenderness of his touch broke Severus. A whimper escaped his control, and Potter pressed Severus' head back into the shelter of his strong shoulder.

"I do. I care." Potter kissed Severus' hair and held him so tightly, all the voids within his tattered soul filled with light and warmth. "It's okay, love. I have every intention of teaching you your worth tonight, of tearing down all those barbed-wire walls you've built around your heart and rebuilding you with love."

Severus shuddered and curled his hands into the back of Harry's robe.

"How did you know?"

"That you desperately need someone to hold you?" Potter kissed the top of Severus' ear, sending a bright thread of heat coiling around his chest. "That you need me to call you sexy and worthy and beautiful and _mean_ it?" A hot tongue flicked around the outer shell of Severus' ear, and his fingers tightened in Harry's robe. "That you need to surrender control to someone you can trust, someone strong enough to protect you, but gentle enough to do it with care?" A gentle tug of teeth on the lobe of his ear made Severus gasp and tilt his head towards Potter's face. "That you need me to dominate you utterly, to take down every last defence, to shatter that fortress around your heart, to be forceful and raw until your every barrier is ripped apart, and then, to hold you close and rebuild you, to give you warmth and comfort and a safe place to be broken, to heal?" 

Harry lifted Severus' chin and kissed his tears away. "Magic speaks to me, too. To my entire coven. We're bringing the ancient ways back, and magic has been drawing me to you for a long time. She tells me you need to be immolated in her power, you need to have those walls burned to dust, not in cruelty but in love, to tear the poison from your spirit, not shatter it." 

He kissed Severus' infamous nose, too, and the implied acceptance of his flaws cracked another fortress wall. "She also says that you also need to feel the softness of loving arms around you, to be safe and sheltered and utterly adored. Babied, if you will." He smiled and cradled Severus' face in gentle hands. "Will you allow me to remake you, Severus?"

Severus shivered at the way Harry had taken the right to his name, a simple act of dominance, and a drop in the bucket for the raw desire burning in his veins.

But he couldn't do this if it wasn't real. He would break in earnest if he revealed his every weakness to this man, if he let Potter tear him down and rebuild him, love him, and that was it, if Potter left him in that state, he would be worse off than before.

"It is only for the sake of magic that you do this?"

Potter traced his thumbs over Severus' cheeks. "You said yourself I could have any of those fawning idiots I wanted. Have I ever indulged myself with them?"

"I…." How would Severus know?

"Love, what do you imagine would happen if I ever let any of those fame-obsessed nutters close?"

Everyone for three continents would know.

Severus relaxed in Harry's arms. "I suppose you have not indulged then, but what does that have to do with it?"

"I've waited, Severus. Waited for _you_ , until you were ready, until I had the strength to be what you need."

Severus' breath caught. Waited? For _him_?

Potter nuzzled his cheek. "Ten years. The battle changed everything, broke down all _my_ walls and rebuilt me." He gave a wry chuckle. "Who knew death was such a life-changing experience, yeah?"

Severus was too stunned to react. "Ten… years?"

"Yeah. Why do you imagine I came back here, where all the memories cut too deep and the idiots swarm me at every turn? It was for _you_ , love. Because you were here, and I couldn't bring myself to leave your side."

Severus clutched at Harry's chest, unable to think beyond the crash of emotion drowning his soul.

"I love you, Severus," Potter whispered against his cheek. "I've loved you since I was old enough to see you for the beautiful soul you truly are."

An entire wall came crashing down, leaving Severus' heart bare to the world. "You…."

No. No, it was all too much. This _couldn't_ be real. Beautiful things didn't happen to him.

"Do not toy with me, Potter! Do you honestly expect me to believe that you, a Gryffindor, have—have loved _me_ in secret for ten years, that you have bided your time instead of blundering in blindly as your house is wont to do?"

Potter answered in a calm, gentle voice. "Yes, I do. And call me Harry."

"I-impossible! No Gryffindor could—"

"A Gryffindor who was nearly sorted Slytherin, I'll remind you. A Gryffindor who can hear magic. A Gryffindor who has faced death and emerged unscathed. Severus, I'm not just my house. No one is—you know that better than most." Potter cupped Severus' face and didn't let him pull away. "Look at me, Severus."

The echo of the words Severus had said that terrible night, words he had thought would be his last, stilled his resistance. He could do nothing but obey, but stare into those serious verdant eyes and cling to Harry's strong wrists.

"Look at my aura, Severus. Watch the way it shines for you and see the truth for yourself. I _love_ you, Severus Snape, and I have waited for you for over a decade."

Severus' experience rebelled against the declaration, but….

But Harry's aura stayed clear and true. A shimmer of pink glowed around the edges, bright enough to see with his physical eyes, and Severus crumpled into Harry's chest.

"Real. Oh, god. _Real_!"

Harry smoothed his hair and held him close to his heart. "Shh. It's not a threat, Severus. You're safe. You'll always be safe in my arms."

Severus pressed his face into Harry's shoulder to hide the raw emotion on his face, the tears he couldn't hold back. Oh god. Harry honestly loved him. Wanted him.

"It's all right, love," Harry whispered. "I have you."

Severus pulled himself together through sheer force of will, though everything in him felt blasted open and raw. "I… do not know how to respond."

Harry smiled and brushed his tears away. "That's okay. I know you need time."

Severus couldn't stop himself from turning into Harry's hand. "You will wait?"

"As long as you need."

Severus shuddered and pressed a tentative kiss to Harry's palm. The man's eyelashes fluttered. 

"Oh. Merlin. I've wanted you to touch me this way for so long."

Severus kissed his palm once more and gave a shaky sigh. "I do not understand why you chose me, but I will not resist."

Harry traced the man's cheekbone with the pad of his thumb. "You'll let me take care of you then?"

Severus hesitated, and tension wound through his body. "I… am unsure. An inexperienced dominant could destroy me as easily as one who is insincere."

"True, but I'm not inexperienced, love. I spent these past ten years learning how to dominate and how to bring you to the brink in my arms. I know damn well what I'm doing. Magic wouldn't let me anywhere near you until I did."

Severus frowned over his shoulder. "But…."

"Oh, not with _that_ lot. I learned with people I trust. People who were willing to give me control and to offer their bodies to me, who understood it wasn't meant to be permanent and my heart was always yours."

Severus swallowed hard. "Who?"

"A few asked me not to say. Others, well, I'm sure you can imagine. Ron is surprisingly hard to break down. The war taught him incredible strength. His body is powerful and his pleasure is incredible to witness when he finally surrenders. Neville, too. They both trained me hard, because you need someone who knows how to bring a strong man to his knees. Someone who knows a man's body inside and out, and someone who also knows to treat you with care and to protect you from true harm."

Severus breathed in and out a few times. Call him mad, but the mental image of Harry breaking Weasley and Longbottom to pieces and putting them back together from the inside out had his heart pounding and his groin throbbing. It wasn't an image he had ever imagined could turn him on, but the idea that those powerful, unyielding men had given their control and the use of their bodies up for _his sake_ left him shaken and a little breathless. 

Harry smirked. "That's a reaction I hadn't anticipated. Hm. Maybe sometime I'll ask them to help me with you, teach you to trust your body entirely to my command. Do you think you could ever trust me enough to let me watch them take you apart?"

Severus whimpered at the thought. Fantasy was one thing, but to truly surrender to other men on his dominant's will? Merlin help him.

"Ah, forgive me, pet. I'm getting ahead of myself." Harry folded Severus into his arms. "The idea of watching you bent over a desk, Ron buried inside you from the top and Neville from the bottom, while I fondle you all and take your sweet mouth… mm. It's a nice thought."

Severus swallowed a surge of heat. Dear gods. The idea turned him on, but….

"No, you aren't ready for that yet." Harry nuzzled his nose. "One step at a time, yeah? Do you think you can open yourself to me then? Let me take you deep and teach you how to be broken in my arms, and how to be loved as well?"

Severus swallowed a rush of tingling anticipation and fear alike. "Do I have any freedom to protect myself?"

"A safeword, you mean?" Harry stroked Severus' cheek. "Of course. What would you like?"

"Ah… asphodel."

"Hm. Good choice." Harry brought Severus' chin close. "Then you'll surrender to me?"

Severus trembled against his fingers. "I…." He took a deep breath to quiet the panic drowning his reason. He had never let himself be broken. 

"I will not make it easy."

"Good. I like a little challenge. You're giving me consent, though? I want to be damned sure of that."

Severus nodded.

"Verbal consent, pet. Every word."

Severus shuddered at the order. To say it aloud would cost him a measure of pride, but Harry already knew what he wanted. The boy only wanted to keep him safe. He truly did care about him.

"Yes," Severus whispered. "I will allow you to dominate me."

"Louder." 

Severus spoke in a murmur.

"No, louder than that. I want you to cry it out."

Severus stared at him and glanced over his shoulder. Minerva and Filius were dancing together just ten metres away.

"Trust me to protect you," Harry murmured. "Trust me to keep you safe."

Severus swallowed a bolt of tension. Harry was already hitting his most vulnerable spots, and he had barely touched him. 

"Severus, remember your word. If I ever ask you to do anything you honestly cannot make yourself do, then _use it_. You will not be punished—ever—for being afraid and needing comfort. I give you my vow."

The worst of that cold, gut-clenching sensation faded, and his knees wobbled in the warm rush of safety that followed in its wake. Harry would test him, would not let him hide or leave him any defence, but he had no desire to truly harm him. 

Severus gave a shaky breath and nodded. 

"Verbal answers, Severus. I love the sound of your voice."

Severus' face burned. "Y-yes, I understand."

"Good. Then do you need to use your word, or will you shout it out to the rooftops that I am your dominant, and you want me to take you here and now?"

Severus' heart slammed into his feet. "H-here? You honestly intend to…?" He waved at the oblivious partygoers behind them, and Harry gave him an unyielding nod. 

"Yes. I want your absolute trust. And I want you to experience being sexy, being vulnerable, being exposed before an audience."

"H-Harry, I will lose my job if…."

"I know. I know, pet. Will you trust me?"

Severus whimpered. "They will see. They will see how—how undesirable I am. They will—oh, god."

Harry curled him into his arms. "Severus, do you need to use your word? It's okay. If you really can't trust me like that yet, we'll do something else."

Severus shuddered against him. "I don't want to lose my position."

"I don't want you to lose it either. Trust me, love. Trust me to protect you."

Severus blinked back tears. This—this was his darkest fear. To be used publicly. Ridiculed. Humiliated before others.

Harry cradled Severus' face. "I love you. Do you need to leave?"

Severus took a shuddering breath and clung to Harry's wrists. "I c-cannot bear for others to… mock me. To hurt me for what I cannot help."

Harry kissed Severus' forehead. "Love, I know damn well humiliation is a hard limit for you. I know it will break you in ways I can't bring you back from. I _never_ intended to use that in our scenes, not in any way whatsoever. If you do this, you will do it of your own choice, and you _will_ be safe. Do you understand? Can you trust me enough to do this? To let yourself be vulnerable before the eyes of others where no one will mock you, no one will hurt you, and no one will threaten your position or safety?"

Severus pressed his forehead against Harry's. "I don't understand how you intend to prevent it."

"You know as well as I do that true magic is limited by wands and spells, and there is no one here who understands that besides the people who came to guard us."

Severus flinched. "Guards?"

"My coven, or part of it. People I trust implicitly. They won't interact with us short of an emergency, or if you ask for it. They're just here to keep us safe."

Severus crossed his arms over his chest to hide himself, at least a little longer. Harry's coven? He struggled to work out who that might be. Probably Weasley and Longbottom, given they already knew of Harry's goals and had helped him learn. Which meant Granger and possibly Ginevra Weasley were probably there as well. Severus had come to know all four well and trusted them with his safety. They were all protective, loving, honest people who would sooner lay down their lives than let an ally come to harm.

Beyond those three, he considered the people he saw cavorting with Harry on a regular basis and relaxed a little. Harry didn't keep untrustworthy people around him. Perhaps magic had taught him to see the core of others, as Severus had learned to do long ago. 

"You… are sure we will be safe?"

"Trust me, Severus. Trust me or use your word."

Severus breathed out harshly. What Harry had asked of him would break every defence and reduce him to rubble, but Harry's hands were gentle on his cheeks, his aura pure and bright, and love and concern shone in his eyes. 

It would be okay. There were no underage students present at the staff party, though Minerva had opened it to adults from outside the castle so long as they could pass an intent ward and Severus' rigid standards of approval, and Harry had people there who were willing to protect them during the scene. There was no risk of true harm. Yes, Severus would fall to pieces in his arms, but he trusted Harry to put him back together and not to hurt him beyond what he could recover from, nor in ways meant to harm. 

"No pain," Severus muttered. "I have had more than enough of being used as a punching bag."

Harry kissed Severus' forehead. "I am not a sadist by nature. I will never cause you pain unless you ask me for it."

Severus swallowed hard. "Then, I… I trust you. Stay. Stay with me after. I will be utterly shattered when this is done."

"I know. I have no intention of ever leaving your side again."

Severus had the urge to snark that it would make going to the loo awkward, but he had the idea Harry might damn well make him piss in front of him if he dared try it. No thank you.

Shaking hard enough to vibrate Harry, he lifted his voice. It broke and warbled, but he did shout his acceptance of the situation, terrified as he was.

"I-I trust you to—to d-dominate me, Harry, and—Merlin help me—give myself into your care."

Harry kissed Severus' nose, his cheeks, the corners of his lips. "Well done, love. You are so brave. Thank you."

Severus shivered at the praise and the kisses and basked in the glow of his dominant's approval. 

Gods. He was already breaking apart. 

Harry looked up and smirked. "It seems our audience is impatient."

Severus followed his gaze to a bunch of red-ribboned Mistletoe hanging above his head. That kind wouldn't set them free until they snogged each other, hard.

"Ready, Severus?"

Severus shivered. "Y-yes."

"Call it out. Tell them what you want me to do to you. Ask me for it. Beg if you want. It's okay to want pleasure."

Severus clutched Harry's hands and cried, "Kiss me, gods, kiss me."

Harry obliged with a low growl, and Severus found himself tipped backwards from the sheer force of it. Soft lips branded his own, and a hot tongue plundered his mouth. He clung to Harry's neck for dear life and gasped at the sound of a soft moan.

A moan that hadn't come from Harry or himself.

Severus whimpered and tried to turn away, but Harry turned him so he stood with his back to the voyeur instead. A masculine voyeur, that was all Severus could tell from the sound. Firm hands moved down his neck, his sides, and over the curve of his arse. Oh god. Harry stroked his cheeks lightly at first, then grabbed a handful of each side and spread them apart. 

Severus gasped and stiffened. Oh fuck. Harry was making him _put on a show_ for the moaner, whomever he was. 

"H-Harry, I…."

"The promise about your safeword is still in effect, Severus. Do you need it?"

Severus whimpered. "They are watching. They are…."

"Enjoying the sight of you submitting to me? The sight of your body in pleasure? You _are_ a sensual man, pet, and there is nothing wrong with it."

Severus panted against Harry's shoulder. "N-no, I am not—they will—"

"Love, can you trust me?"

Severus shuddered and clung to his shoulders. "I trust you, but I am afraid."

Harry held him close. "That's okay, love. It's okay to be afraid. This is damned hard for you, I know. I promise I'll get you out the instant it becomes too much."

Severus nodded into his neck. "V-very well."

"Tell them, love. Tell them what you want me to do to you."

Severus swallowed a bolt of combined fear and anticipation. "T-touch me." His voice came out soft, but he repeated it in a louder tone before Harry could demand it. 

"Good. Well done. That's my brave man." Harry slid his hands over Severus' arse again and massaged his cheeks, occasionally spreading them, though no one would see much through his robes. Severus panted and clung to Harry's neck, unable to stop his hips from moving back into that maddening touch, if only a little. Harry stroked his cleft through his robe, and Severus gasped and rocked back. Oh, god. It felt good, and the idea that unknown others were watching, maybe even enjoying this, set his senses alight. He tried to look, to see who might be watching, but a magical blindfold covered his eyes the instant he moved his head. Severus stilled, overwhelmed at the sudden darkness, the way the loss of his sight amplified every sound. 

_Walking in a Winter Wonderland_ played on the wireless. A hundred shoes tapped and clicked against the stone. Glasses clinked. Dancers laughed. Minerva told someone a joke about the suits of armour and lonely nights, the bawdy old cat.

And the occasional pant from somewhere nearby reassured Severus that one man, at least, found the sight of his pleasure intriguing. 

Harry's fingers teased his hole through his clothes, stroking in slow, firm circles, and Severus gasped.

"I think you're overdressed. What do you think, love?"

Severus panted. Those fingers toyed with his endurance, and he couldn't help but want them against his bare skin. The watchers, though. If they saw him naked and aroused, would they torment him?

_'You are safe in my arms.'_

No. He had to trust his dominant, even if it was the hardest thing he had done since the war.

"Yes." He spoke in an unsteady tone, but loud enough for everyone to hear. "U-undress me."

Harry groaned. "With pleasure." 

Slowly, Severus' robe opened and dropped to the floor. Those fingers returned to his rocking arse, closer now with one less layer to contend with, and sucking kisses branded his scarred throat. For an instant, he tensed, fearful of Harry's reaction to those ugly scars, to the voyeurs', but Harry gave him no chance to think too hard on his sudden fear. The other hand came up to play, first tweaking a nipple through his shirt, then trailing down his stomach, lower, lower, until firm heat cupped his erection and squeezed, and Severus threw his head back at the intensity of the sensation. Another firm squeeze drew a gasp from his throat, and a slow stroke up the shaft made Severus give a breathless moan. 

"You're so sexy. You should see them, hot and bothered at the sight of you breaking down in my arms. Damn."

Severus whimpered and clutched Harry's neck. The zip of his trousers lowered, and Severus gasped at the heat of Harry's palm surrounded him, only blocked by a thin layer of silk. A quiet moan broke past his composure, and he moved with Harry's hand, helpless to resist.

"Can you hear it, pet? Can you hear how sexy they find you?"

Severus quieted his own breath to listen to the nearby man again. "I hear it." Oddly enough, listening to him made Severus feel as though the man was part of the scene, devouring him with his eyes and ready to pounce at any moment. Some long-repressed part of him wanted to tease, to alter his movements to give the voyeur a better show. 

The greater part of him shuddered and struggled to cover the exposed parts of his body.

"Severus. No hiding. Let them see."

He couldn't suppress a whimper. 

"You're sexy as hell love. Don't be afraid. Listen to them and know you're wanted and desirable."

Harry pushed open Severus' trousers, dropped his boxers, and freed his heavy erection. Severus gasped and went rigid. "Harry."

"You are under my control until you use your word or the scene ends, do you understand? I will not let you hide this beautiful body any longer." 

Harry stroked him in a slow, steady rhythm, and a _shiff-shiff_ of dry hands over his hard cock brushed against his ears. The panting voyeur suppressed a moan. He was watching Harry _wank Severus_. Enjoying it. 

Were the others similarly engaged? How many people had Harry gathered for this scene anyway? Severus only heard the man, but he sensed electric energy throughout the room. There might be voyeurs everywhere, watching him, wanting.

The idea made him shudder and draw in on himself at the same time it made his cock pulse and his arse clench. What if Harry was wrong? What if someone saw who wasn't supposed to? What if someone who _was_ supposed to see this had only agreed as a prank, as a way to crush him at his most vulnerable?

"Severus," Harry said, voice firm, "don't hide."

Severus snapped back, "I will if I damn well want to, Potter!"

Harry grabbed Severus' hands and twisted him around so his back leaned against Harry's chest. Rope bound his wrists, and Severus gasped and struggled. 

"No! No, I cannot!"

Strong hands held his arms. "Severus. You're okay. No one here will hurt you."

Severus breathed harshly, tears building under the blindfold. "I am not a piece of meat to be ogled."

"No. You're a striking, brave man who needs to learn that not everyone sees you as expendable and worthless." Harry traced kisses down Severus' scarred neck. "Shh. It's all right. You're all right."

Severus broke, and tears rushed down his face. Harry held him tighter. 

"Shh. Breathe. You're okay."

"I-I do not need to be _coddled_."

Harry turned Severus' chin around and kissed the tear tracks from his face. "Yes, love. You do."

Severus shuddered. "I…."

"You're afraid."

"Y-yes."

"You know you can break those bonds in an instant if you really want to."

Severus struggled a moment longer, then slumped, shaking, into Harry's arms. "I k-know."

Harry supported him and caressed his back. "Okay, love? Are you able to go on?"

Severus whimpered. "I can't. I can't be judged…."

Harry turned him around to face the crowds again. Severus' heart thundered and his breath raced. 

"Severus, do you trust me?"

Severus swallowed hard. "Y-yes."

"Then let go. Surrender." 

Severus shut his eyes tight. "I _can't_! I can't do it."

A soft whisper ahead breathed, "Oh, Severus." The watcher. He was in pain.

Harry sighed. "Shh. You're not supposed to talk."

"I'm sorry," the voyeur whispered back. "I just hate seeing him in so much pain."

"I know. This—it's hard on me, too." Harry turned away. "Severus? It's okay, love. Just tell me your word, and we'll go to your quarters instead." He didn't let disappointment show in his voice, at least not with _Severus_ , but his aura revealed deep guilt and worry. A strong feeling of failure. 

Harry wasn't disappointed in Severus, no, but he _did_ blame himself.

Something in Severus shifted. The sparks of pain in Harry's magic revealed to Severus what his resistance was doing to Harry. The man loved him. He was doing this to help Severus heal, but he had to be terrified. This wasn't like any practise scene for Harry. This was _real_ , and if he ruined it, he lost everything he had strived for over the past decade. 

It wasn't a game to him, wasn't done to put Severus in his place or leave him vulnerable. He wanted Severus to trust him.

And he did trust him. Merlin help him, he did. 

" _Vestavesco_ ," Severus whispered. He didn't trust himself to vanish anything without a spell at the moment, frightened as he was. The spell vanished everything but his underwear, and it didn't cover much. He hunched in on himself, unwilling to meet their eyes. 

Gentle hands stroked his hair. The voyeur? God. Was he _supposed_ to do this? Maybe he couldn't help it, couldn't stop himself from trying to comfort him. The idea relieved Severus. Whoever this man was, he cared about him.

Harry tilted Severus' face up and held his cheeks. "I didn't ask for this. I hadn't thought you could bear it so far."

"I trust you, Harry," Severus whispered. 

Harry grabbed him into a fiery kiss. Severus didn't resist, even when the voyeur breathed in sharply and stifled another moan. Gods help him. It couldn't be possible that _both_ men found him attractive? 

Had he stepped into an alternate world?

Harry turned Severus around again and supported him against his chest. "Do you want to see him? To watch what your pleasure does to him?"

Severus panted and arched at a firm stroke of his cock. "Nnh. You are sure he is…?"

"Can't take his eyes off you." Harry banished the last shred of fabric hiding Severus' body and pushed his legs apart with his knees. Severus ducked down instinctively, but he dragged himself up again before Harry could order him to.

"That's it. Gods, you're so brave. So sexy." 

Severus whimpered. "I…."

"See for yourself, pet. See the proof."

Harry removed the blindfold, and Severus blinked hard against the light. A gentle hand shielded his eyes and slowly moved away.

And Severus saw everything. 

They stood in a fishbowl of sorts, elevated a meter or so off the ground, and the party went on all around without a break. Minerva stood just outside the glass, chatting with Hagrid. Severus shivered at the fear of being seen, but she never turned his way. 

And standing just ahead of him was Ron Weasley, watching his best friend take Severus apart with dark, fiery eyes.

Another firm stroke made Severus arch and squeeze his eyes shut against the pleasure, the fear of seeing what it did to the watchers. 

Harry turned them to the left a little, so Severus faced Weasley dead on. Oh god. Weasley watched Harry's hands on him, followed the movement, and his tongue darted out to wet his lips. Severus flinched and tried to shy away, but Harry only stroked him harder.

"Nnhn. He—can't—Harry…."

"I won't let you hide."

Harry conjured a chair of some sort and pressed Severus into it. His hands were released only for Harry to bind them above his head, tied to some kind of pole at the back of the chair. Severus gasped at the feel of something warm and smooth stroking rhythmically against his opening. Lightning sharp pulses of heat shot straight to his core, and a strangled moan escaped him.

"Do you like that toy, love? Ron and I invented it just for you."

Severus whimpered and gasped at firmer pressure and a slick slide against his opening. "Mmngn." He arched back, squirming away from the sensation and somehow wanting more at the same time. Another stroke wriggled into his centre, just a little, and Severus couldn't stop a strangled moan. Hot breath just in front of his knees shocked him, and Severus opened his eyes again. 

Harry had suspended the chair above the ground. The seat, rendered invisible now, did nothing to hide Severus' arse or the strange toy teasing him open, and Ron's head was between his knees, not touching, but close enough for Severus to feel the man's every breath against his thighs and the wet head of his cock. 

Severus gasped and snapped his legs shut. Too close. He didn't want to see Ron's inevitable disgust.

But Harry pushed his legs wide apart again and lashed them to the legs of the chair. Severus couldn't escape, couldn't hide himself at all. The chair tilted back a little and the legs spread wider, and Severus was revealed in his entirety to the redhead.

Ron gasped out, "Bloody hell."

Severus cringed away, tears building behind his lashes. He had no escape, no shelter. Ron's sharp pants brushed his bollocks and wet opening. His soft whimper rang in Severus' ears. 

But Severus couldn't bring himself to look at his face.

Harry called, "Severus. Open your eyes."

Severus obeyed, and tears slid down his cheeks. Ron's breath stilled, and a shaky sigh rushed against his skin. The sensation teased and set his opening throbbing, and Severus turned his face away. 

"Fuck," Ron whispered. Another sharp breath, intentional this time, set him arching. 

"Mm. Does it feel good?" Harry floated up to hover over Severus—so magic had shared that trick with him—and he took Severus' cock in hand. The toy wriggled deeper, and Severus couldn't help moaning under the assault of sensation. 

Harry kissed him deeply and floated away. "Keep your eyes on Ron, love."

Severus swallowed a nervous flutter and forced himself to look at Weasley's face. Blue eyes, darkened with lust, focused on Severus' face. The man gave him a gentle sort of smile, and Severus' terror abated a little. 

A lance of wet heat pressed all the way inside him, and Severus gasped and arched into it. The toy wriggled and stroked his inner walls, setting his core alight, and Severus jerked away. 

"H-Harry, please."

Harry cupped his face. "Love, do you need to stop? There will be no punishment."

Severus whispered, "I don't… want you to—nngn—hate yourself either."

Harry winced. "You're right. I'm sorry. If it's too much, we'll stop right now, no guilt, no pressure. Do you need out?"

"Not me. Weasley. Can't be—must be—difficult. Can't enjoy this."

Weasley groaned. "Bloody hell, Severus. You are naked and writhing right in front of me. Call me _Ron_. And I don't want out. Just look at me, baby. Look what you're doing to me."

Severus flinched and obeyed. Ron's eyes had gone almost black. His tongue kept flicking over his lips and lines of tension creased his brow. His voice came out rough.

"I can _definitely_ be enjoying this."

Severus whimpered. "But…."

Ron murmured, "Harry, your permission?" 

Harry nodded to his friend. "Gently."

Ron took a shuddering breath. The exhale hit Severus' opening, and Severus squirmed at the oddly intense sensation. 

Then, strong hands pushed his legs further apart and stroked his ankles. Severus whimpered. Those weren't Harry's hands on him. 

"Can you feel it, Severus? How the sight of you drives me mad?"

Severus gasped at several pulses of breathy words teasing him, and Ron moved closer, close enough that if he stuck out his tongue, it would brand Severus' throbbing opening. 

"Oh, oh, god." Severus shuddered and arched back, helpless with anticipation. "Nnghn."

"Yeah," Ron murmured. "Fuck. Ghn. Wanna…."

Severus whimpered and spread his thighs as wide as he could bear. The tension was too much. He wanted that touch, if only to ease his mind that others truly did find him attractive. After all, no one who wasn't thoroughly into the scene would _lick_ him there.

"You want it," Harry said, breathless. "You want him to touch you. To taste you."

Severus whimpered. "Mmhn. I…."

The toy vanished, leaving Severus open aching and millimetres from Ron's mouth.

Harry whispered in Severus' ear, "Ask for it. Call it out. Beg for his tongue in your arse."

Severus whined. "But… you are…."

"Yes. This is just a scene, but if having Ron go down on you is what it takes to break your walls down and leave you open to healing at last, then by god, _do it_. Didn't I tell you I wanted to see him inside you anyway?"

A flicker of pain crossed Ron's aura and face, but it vanished the next instant. Ron watched him with lustful eyes, and yet, Severus sensed some dark, deeply-buried hurt within their depths, some secret he guessed not even Harry knew.

Severus whimpered and clutched the pole. "R-Ron?"

Ron kissed Severus' thigh, the touch soft and lingering. Was the man trembling?

"It's all right, Severus."

A hot brush of breath, intentional again, rushed directly against Severus' opening. Without the toy to block it, the full sensation of it set him arching and his toes curling. It felt so good, but it wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.

"Ron, ahh."

"Yeah." Ron's voice came out rough. "Beg me, baby. Ask for it, like your dom wants you to."

Baby again. They said it was meant as a way to pamper him, but it clearly established a dominant role over him, too. 

"Ask me, baby. I want you to ask me."

Severus didn't mind them calling him that, not now, not with his defenses crumbling and leaving him raw. It reminded him that they cared, that they weren't just out to break him, but to help him be reborn. He needed that now, when everything felt so dangerous and out of control. Being pampered wasn't so awful.

Severus gasped out, "Please, Ron. Please, touch me."

A gentle lick branded his inner thigh, and Severus rocked into the touch. More kisses sucked at his thighs and teased the curve of his bollocks, but it never moved where he wanted it.

" _Please_!"

"Specifics." Harry dragged Severus into an upside down kiss. "Tell him—and everyone here—what you want and who you want to do it to you."

Severus whimpered. It was so damn hard to ask.

"Surrender, baby," Ron murmured against his desperate opening. "Surrender, and you can have anything you want. I want you to beg me, want to hear your sexy voice crying out for me."

Severus broke. He couldn't fight anymore, couldn't hold on to his resistance. 

"Ah, god. T-taste me, Ron! Want your mouth… on my arse."

Ron groaned. " _Finally_." Wet heat branded his hole and teased the opening, and Severus let out a sharp cry. Lightning and water pooled in his groin and intensified with every stroke. His spine arched, his toes curled, and his opening clenched and throbbed. More. He wanted more.

"Ah! I-inside me! Your tongue inside me."

Ron groaned against him and speared him in slow, easy strokes. Harry stood in the air over them and watched, lazily stroking his cock. Severus howled and pressed back into Ron, utterly gone to pleasure.

"More, deeper, harder."

Ron spread him open with two fingers and pressed in as far as he could go. 

"Waaah!" Severus was crying out and thrashing, and he was too far gone to care. "More, oh god, more." 

Ron moaned into him and sucked his opening, and Severus thrashed, crying out. Ah, ah, he wanted to feel something—someone—deeper. He couldn't stand it any longer.

"Please, please, take me."

Ron grabbed his arse and sucked hard, nibbling, plunging deep, and Severus wailed. 

" _Please_! Need your—aiiieee—your cock in me."

Harry moaned. "Oh gods. Which one, love?"

"Don't care! Either, both, just _fuck me_!"

Ron moved back panting. "Fuck. _Fuck._ Harry. Both of us? Oh, sweet Merlin."

Harry groaned and grabbed Ron into a fiery kiss. Severus watched their tongues clash, watched Harry suck his taste from Ron's mouth. _Gods_.

"Divine." Harry turned the chair over and suspended Severus upside down. He spread his cheeks wide, and his tongue swirled Severus into an inferno of bliss. Severus howled and thrashed against him, utterly gone to pleasure. Oh. _Oh_ , it was heaven. 

A pair of strong legs and a heavy cock with red-furred bollocks moved in front of him, and the scent of musk and sex made Severus' mouth water. 

"Get me good and wet, baby. Gonna need it to take you."

Severus whined and sucked his cock down. He licked the head and tasted the slit, then devoured him whole. Ron cried out and thrust against him, strokes shallow and gentle. Strong hands clutched his hair, and Severus gave a garbled moan. So intense. He couldn't stand it much longer.

Then, Harry lowered the chair and a thick, heavy cock teased his opening. 

_'Please!'_

Severus rocked back helplessly. Magic flickered through his opening and slicked him, stretched him, and then that thick shaft eased inside. He cried out and squirmed against it, desperately seeking greater friction. In no time at all, Harry was thrusting into him in slow, deep strokes, and Severus moaned and sobbed on every plunge.

Ron moved back with a groan. "Gods your mouth is sinful." He dropped to his knees and kissed Severus hard, and the feel of his tongue branding Severus' mouth set him ablaze. So hot. So deep. 

"Fuck." Harry panted and thrust harder. "Ron, move under him."

Ron lay on the floor beneath Severus, and Severus took in the sight of his strong, bare body. Freckles on every muscle and a cock he would feel in his ears. Oh, yes. He wanted him.

"Please, take me. Both of you, in me now!"

Ron levitated towards him on a bed of magic—proof that he, too, could hear magic's voice—and Severus whimpered when the bonds released his ankles. 

"I've got you, baby. You're all right." Ron lifted Severus' knees over his elbows and pushed the head of his cock against Severus' open entrance. 

"Ah, ah, _please_! Inside me!" 

Ron groaned and dragged him into another kiss. A wash of some kind of magic rushed inside him, and Severus gasped at the sensation. Ron murmured his name and pressed inside, his head stretching Severus wide. With exquisite care, he inched deeper and deeper, and then two cocks were pistoning inside Severus, each thick and full, claiming him in ways he had never dreamed he would experience. Severus threw his head back and howled. Hands all over him. Cocks buried inside. And all over, eyes watching. Severus couldn't see them, but he felt the energy. He knew they were there.

"Show them," Harry said in a breathless voice. "Show them how much you want us."

Severus tried to angle his body to give them a better view. Lifting his arse just so. Raising his thighs. Tilting his head back to show the way Ron was sucking his throat and fondling his nipples. Gods help him. He had never felt so _sensual_ before. So _wanted_.

But as much as he revelled in the feeling, it was strange. Alien. As if he had fallen into someone else's body, someone else's life.

That had to be the answer. Was he glamoured? Polyjuiced somehow? This felt so unreal, he couldn't believe it. He, _Severus Snape_ , had two men taking him apart from the inside out and both thoroughly enjoying it? Enjoying _him_?

He didn't understand. Didn't believe. Some strange twist of fate had altered him, because this _couldn't_ be real.

Ron leaned back and tipped Severus' chin up. "Baby, why are you shaking?"

Harry leaned down to kiss Severus' back and stroke his hair. "Love, does it hurt? Are you okay?"

Severus whimpered and buried his face in Ron's shoulder. Ron hesitated an instant, then held his head against him and kissed his hair. 

"Baby, talk to us."

"Real."

Ron nuzzled his hair. "Yes, it's real."

"No! Cannot be. I cannot…."

"Oh. Severus, gods." Ron kissed him with slow, gentle lips and a caressing tongue, so softly, Severus could almost believe Ron loved him, too.

"Baby, it _is_ real. Can't you feel it?" He kissed Severus again and rocked inside in slow, deep thrusts.

Harry kissed Severus' bound hands and up his spine to his ear. "Love, don't you feel how much I love you?" 

He held Severus close and made love to him, but Severus only trembled harder. This was everything he had ever wanted—the love, the kisses, the gentle words, strong arms to hold him tight and even hold him _down_ —but he had never known dreams to come true. There had to be something wrong. He couldn't believe so easily.

Ron tucked the older man's head under his chin and stroked his hair. "No good, mate. He's still doubting himself."

"So I see." 

A surge of magic flickered in the air, and Severus buried his head further into the hard muscle of Ron's chest. 

Harry called, "Severus. Open your eyes, pet."

Ron kissed Severus' temple and guided his chin up. "Look, baby. It's okay."

Severus lifted his head and gasped. Harry had suspended them above the dancers' heads. Over Ron's shoulder, he watched Hagrid dance with Aurora, so close he could have touched them if he dared. 

"M-Merlin!"

Harry stroked Severus' back, fingers tracing the curves of his muscles and old scars. "They won't sense us, love. Look _up_."

Severus lifted his head and froze. The fishbowl walls around them had gone. Instead, they were making love in a mirror. Harry had fixed it to only show one reflection at a time rather than each side reflecting off of one another, but even so, everywhere he looked, Severus saw an undeniable image of himself with both men buried inside him. 

And nothing about his appearance had changed. He was still the hook-nosed bastard he had always been, but—but now there were strong hands caressing his bare body. Kisses on his shoulders, his back. Soft whispers of encouragement in his ears, then softer lips against his own. Severus watched Ron kiss him in the mirror, hardly able to believe the images. Why? Why were they being so _gentle_? So caring to such a hard-edged man? Nothing made sense.

Harry drove into him again and made Ron gasp and Severus whimper. 

"Ah." Ron tipped his head back and panted. "So damn good to feel you rubbing against me, Harry."

Harry groaned and thrust in and out, angling himself to rub Ron's shaft harder, to tease his head even inside Severus. Ron gave a hitching moan and thrust back, frotting Harry inside Severus, and the feel of their heavy cocks rutting inside him ripped a cry from Severus' throat. He arched back and clung to Ron's shoulders, on fire with want.

And the mirror reflected every inch of him. His taut expression, his scarred throat flushed with pleasure, his arching back, thrusting hips and his bound hands resting atop them, the way Harry's body made his arse flatten and plump again with his strokes. Harry leaned back to reveal his slick cock, pushing and pulling, Severus' rim bunching and stretching with his movements. Ron's crimson shaft was just visible below, plunging in when Harry withdrew, twin rods of fire plunging in and out, in and out. Severus watched himself take them, transfixed. 

"Sexy, isn't it?" Harry teased his rim with a slick fingertip, and Severus rocked back into him with a whimper. "Magic is a beautiful thing. You wouldn't be able to stretch so easily without it, but Ron, Neville, and I spent months perfecting this spell. I even tested it. Just think. Both of them, buried bollocks-deep in my arse, all for you, to make sure nothing I did to you would ever cause you unwanted pain."

He squeezed Severus' arse and pressed his cheeks together, and the added pressure around their cocks made both Ron and Severus cry out.

Ron threw his head back and gasped. "Oh, baby, don't stop." 

He grabbed Severus' arse, too, and four hands massaging him around two cocks was almost too much. He threw his head back and cried out in pleasure, in pain, because mirror image or not, his mind simply could not grasp the reality of this. 

He was dreaming. It was another wild fantasy. Any moment, he would wake up. He had to _wake up_!

"Hit me!"

Severus' broken cry rang off the sudden stillness. 

"What?" Harry rubbed Severus' back. "What do you want?"

"I said _hit me_ , goddamn it! I'm dreaming. It's just a dream. Wake me up!"

Harry's eyes took on an edge of pain. "You're sure that's what you want?"

"Yes! Make—make it real."

Harry closed his eyes and shuddered. When he opened them again, his expression was hard. "Ron, keep him calm."

Ron cradled Severus' face. "Watch, baby. Watch me. Watch the mirror and know it's real."

Severus' voice broke. " _Please_."

Harry took a ragged breath. "Okay. Okay, love. Count them out then." 

Severus watched Harry's hand lift and come down hard against his arse. A sharp sting jarred his flesh and made it jiggle. Ron moved inside him again at the same time, and Severus whimpered. 

Harry cried, "Count it!"

"One!" It couldn't be real. 

Another slap and combined thrust made Severus grunt. 

Ron kissed his forehead and down his nose. "Count, baby. Come on."

"T-two." It couldn't be real, but…. 

"Three!" The pain felt real. 

"Four!" Not real enough though. Not nearly real enough. 

"Harder! Make it _hurt_ , damn it!"

Harry's stern expression faltered, and Severus realised this was testing his dom's limits, too. 

"Harder? I…." Harry swallowed hard. "I don't…."

"This is always hard for him," Ron murmured against Severus' cheek. "Especially with you." He flicked his wrist, and a ruler appeared in Harry's hand. "That might be enough."

Harry shuddered. "But…."

"He needs it. Your sub needs this."

Harry stiffened his posture. "Right." Tears glimmered in his eyes, but he did raise the ruler. "Then… k-keep counting, Severus." 

He brought it down hard, and Severus cried out at the sharp crack against his arse. The sudden bloom of pain across his skin. 

"F-five!" Was he still dreaming? 

"Six!" Did dreams hurt?

"Seven!" Yes, like hell sometimes, but….

"Eight!" He had always woken up when it hurt before.

"N-nine!" His arse was on fire. 

"Ten!" Why wasn't he waking up?

"E-eleven!" It couldn't be….

"Twelve!" It went against all his rules….

"Thir-thirteen!" All his understanding of the world.

"F-fourteen!" But the pain was real now….

"Fifteen!" And he still hadn't woken up.

"Sixteen! Seventeen! Ei—oh god." Severus broke down, and Ron cradled him against his chest.

"Shh. Shh. You're okay. You're safe. You're really here in our arms, and we really want you."

Harry lay down atop him, one hand gently rubbing his sore bum, and the feel of tears dropping against Severus' spine finally brought it home.

This was no dream. No trick of his fucked up subconscious. No fantasy. Harry was lying above him, shattered at having to hurt him to make him feel real, and Ron was trying his best to hold both of them together. The redhead kissed Severus' tears away and stroked Harry's hair, murmuring softly to both, and Severus' last bastion of denial cracked and crumbled into dust. 

"Please," he murmured, "please."

Harry kissed Severus' back. "What, love? What do you need?"

"M-make love to me. Make me feel it."

"Softly now? Yeah." 

Harry eased Severus up, so he sat on their cocks, his legs draped over Ron's hips and his hands still bound and pressed against Harry's stomach. Harry stroked his chest and stomach, Ron caressed his thighs and knees, and Severus whimpered at the gentleness of it. 

Ron shifted position to stand with Harry, Severus pressed between them and supported by their magic, by the strength of their bodies. The redhead draped Severus' knees over his arms and set up a slow, deep pace—in, out, steady, gentle. His plush lips found Severus', and his hot tongue caressed the older man's. Harry kissed along Severus' jaw and turned his face, and then both of them were kissing him, two tongues exploring his mouth and each other's and two cocks sliding in tandem and in counterpoint within him. 

The strange mix of pain and pleasure melded inside him, and he drifted away on a haze of sex and heat and being held so softly for the first time in his life. Harry's murmurs in his ear— _"I love you, you're so beautiful, you feel so good."_ —his words all faded to a distant hum. The music blended with his voice and Ron's soft moans and breathless cries, a song of pleasure carrying him to somewhere he had never been. 

Was this magic? 

He gasped as he became aware of it in ways he had never experienced. The entire room glowed with it. Harry's brilliant blue core wove through them all, lovers and dancers and wallflowers alike. Ron's bright violet core held them aloft and sealed them in a world all their own. And Severus' magic—he had never realised it was _white_. Pure, crystalline spirals wove throughout the indigo wash of his lovers' combined power, like the full moon in winter, like stars in a midnight sky. The sight arrested him and broke him on a soul-deep level. 

Pure. His magic was _pure_. It had been grey once, tainted by darkness and misery, but now, it glowed brighter than the snow outside and reflected a rainbow of hues, a prism radiant with the beauty of a wholly redeemed, _worthy_ soul. 

_"You are worthy of love."_ The ancient voice sounded in his soul rather than his ears, but he understood the words just the same.

Tears rained like stardust, and he fell into an even deeper place. Primal. Raw. Heat and fire enveloped him, ready to devour him at any moment, but the shield of his lover's arms and magic kept him safe. Severus watched in awe, watched the flames lick ever closer, life and death and the power of the ancients in its deepest form. 

With each flicker, the pleasure inside grew. The heat within and without reached higher and higher. A molten surge of raw, deep magic as ancient as the earth itself rushed over him like magma. It consumed him, swallowed him whole, and burst inside him in fractals of white, blue, and violet, and Severus cried out. Sensation submerged him in the fires of rebirth, and he melted into it with a sigh. He was dying, he had never been so alive. He had been reborn in the core of magic himself, and it was pure, unadulterated bliss.

"Ah, oh, god, I can't—" Ron's cry sounded in Severus' ears, distant but coming closer every moment, and a wash of heat, of water and magic and devotion flooded him deep inside.

Harry breathed, "God, I love you," and another surge of heat and magic rushed within him, saturating his core in crystal-blue magic and the iridescent pink light of his love. Severus gasped as he was inundated in it, violet, blue, and soft pink all over—not just from Harry. Ron's aura glowed the same rosy hue. 

Merlin. What did that mean? Oh. Oh, it could only mean one thing, couldn't it? Another rain of stardust tears sprinkled the earth, and Severus clung to Ron's neck. 

_'How did this happen?'_

He didn't know, didn't care, as long as this wonderful feeling of love and belonging never faded.

"Oh, baby, you fell so hard." Ron kissed Severus' forehead. "Harry, we have to bring him out slowly."

Out? No. Severus didn't want to leave.

But his body was stirring anyway, the light and wonder and fire fading to an image of Severus' shaking body held in Harry's lap. Where were they? The dancers were gone. Was this his quarters? It didn't seem familiar.

Ron sat beside Harry and wrapped him in a warm blanket. Severus realised then how cold he was. Why?

Harry held a phial up for him. "This is yours, pet. It's a mild pain potion. I have calming draught and water, too. Can you try to drink it for me?"

Severus obeyed as if in a daze. Everything felt so surreal.

After he finished, the haze faded enough for him to realise he was drenched in tears and sobbing in Harry's shoulder. Ron held them both, too, kissing Severus' hair and face and murmuring soft things in his ears. Harry rocked him gently, his arms a ballast against a rush of overwhelming emotion and confusion. 

"I have you, baby. You're safe. You're okay. It's all over now."

Severus shuddered. Over. Did that mean….

"Don't." His voice came out rough. "Don't leave me. Please. Don't want it to be over."

Harry shushed him and kissed him softly. "Shh. I just meant the scene, love. We're safe in my quarters now, that's all. I would have taken you to yours, but you were so deep in subspace, we couldn't get the password out of you."

Subspace? He didn't know what that was, but he knew where he had been.

Severus shook his head. "Magic brought me into her core."

"In… magic?" Ron whistled and cuddled them both closer. "Merlin. You went into the ancient core?"

"I… think so. Harry's magic was blue."

Harry smiled and kissed him lightly. "Yes, it is blue." 

"Ron's was violet."

Ron gasped. "Blimey. You really _did_ see it."

"And mine…." The wonder and awe overcame Severus again. "I can't believe it."

"White," Harry murmured. "Like snow on a winter morning. Yours is the most beautiful core I've ever seen."

"It really is beautiful." Ron's large, powerful hand stroked Severus' hair and cheek as softly as a butterfly against his skin, and Severus turned into the touch.

"Will you stay?"

"Me?" Ron flushed. "Merlin. I didn't realise you wanted me to."

Severus turned to hold his gaze. "I saw it all, Ron. Your core was pink, too."

Harry gasped and looked up. "Ron?"

Ron squirmed away. "I…."

Severus cupped his face. "Ron. Tell me."

Ron shuddered and closed his eyes. "It—it wasn't right to say it. Harry loved you first, and I know… it's not the same for me, not for either of you. But I've been helping Harry so long for your sake, and I—I couldn't help it. I couldn't help the way my heart changed." He looked up, and his sky-blue eyes glimmered too brightly in the candlelight. "There's no pressure, though. I know neither of you… feel the same, so I'm content to be here however you want me." 

Severus pulled him into a soft kiss and brushed his tears away. "Stay." He buried his head in Ron's chest. "If you are content to be with us however we wish, then stay."

Ron shivered and held his head close to his heart. His pulse hammered in Severus' ear. 

"I…."

"You're afraid."

"Of losing you, of losing Harry. Yes."

Harry tipped Ron's chin up. "How long?"

Ron closed his eyes and swallowed hard. "Around the time I realised Hermione and I were better as friends, I reckon."

"Oh god. Nine years?"

Ron flushed. "What could I do, Harry? You were in love with Severus. Then you asked me to help you be ready for him, and—and it was better than never having you at all."

Harry tugged him closer. "Fuck. I'm so sorry I never noticed."

Ron dropped his head onto Harry's shoulder. "You were focused on Severus, and I wanted you to be. He needs you more."

Severus kissed Ron slowly, until the man melted into him and slid his heavy hand into Severus' hair. 

"No," Severus whispered against his lips. "No. I need you both."

Ron shuddered and pressed his head against Severus'. "So—so do I."

Harry dragged Ron into a fiery kiss that left them both breathless. "Stay then. Stay with us and love us both."

Ron nudged his head under Harry's shoulder. "O-okay. 'S where I want to be anyway."

Severus kissed Ron's shoulder, and Ron wrapped his arm around the man and held him against his side.

"Merlin, I was so—so afraid this was it. The last night. The only night with Severus." Ron's voice broke. "I didn't want it to end."

Severus wriggled closer, so he sat in Ron's lap with his legs draped over Harry's. "No. I want you with me. With us."

"Me too, love." Harry kissed them both. "We're a family now then?"

_'Family….'_

Severus smiled a little. "Mm. I suppose so."

"Thank _Merlin_ ," Ron breathed. "Oh, god."

Harry nuzzled his hair. "Hush, love. You're safe now."

"You are home," Severus whispered against Ron's ear. 

Ron kissed him fiercely, and Harry joined in. It was awkward and messy, but Severus couldn't care, not with two beautiful, powerful men mapping out his mouth and the scent of their come still clinging to his body.

Ron rested his head against Severus', and Harry pressed in, too, so their breath mingled and their noses touched. Severus had never felt so loved.

Ron leaned back with a smile. "Well, if I'm staying, am I dom or sub?"

Harry cocked his head. "Eh. Both, I guess. You're sub to me unless we need to switch it up, but Sev needs us to dominate him."

"Oh. All right. Guess I don't mind being in the middle."

The idea set Severus' senses ablaze. "Mm. Neither do I. Would either of you ever let me top?"

Harry and Ron gave him bemused looks.

"You don't have to top to dominate, love," said Ron. "Trust me on that. Harry can take a cock to his ears and still have a man on his knees and begging."

Severus swallowed hard. "Oh. I…."

Ron grinned. "Yeah? You want that? Us to top you from the bottom?" 

Severus gave him a dazed nod, near dizzy with the thought. 

Ron smiled and gave Severus a soft kiss. "Not tonight, baby. We pushed you too far. I don't want you to drop any further than you already have. Let's just get you into a hot bath and wrap you up in our arms. Hold you until you fall asleep and watch over your dreams. Sound good?"

"Sounds bloody perfect to me." Harry nuzzled Severus' cheek. "Feel like being pampered a bit? Being loved until you can never doubt your worth and attractiveness again?"

Severus shivered and nodded. "Yes. It sounds lovely." He frowned and curled into Ron's arms. "But I am confused. What happened at the party?"

"We apparated you out when it was clear you were in no condition to walk," said Harry.

"In Hogwarts?"

Harry snickered. "Love, you know damn well those wards only keep the ones out who depend on wands."

Severus gave a soft snort. "True. I never could have spied if I couldn't apparate around them. Never would have survived."

Harry and Ron held him tighter, and Severus basked in the glow of their love.

"That was not what I meant to ask regardless. I assumed you must have carried me here, but what happened to the others?"

Ron nuzzled his neck. "Hm? Others?"

"The watchers."

"Oh. It was always only me. Well, Nev and Hermione were here, too, but they were outside the scene and keeping everyone oblivious. So I was the only one who really saw you so gone on pleasure."

Severus relaxed into him with a sigh. "Oh. Good." He kissed them both softly. "Thank you. You knew what I needed more than I did."

"Magic speaks to us both, love," said Harry, "and she said you've been alone and suffering long enough. She said it's time for a change, in all of our lives. And so, here we are."

Ron murmured into Severus' hair, "Yeah. Right where we belong."

Severus curled up between them, all guards down for once, and silently thanked the ancient powers for his boys, and for the revelation of his redemption. Merlin, it was good to be loved.


End file.
